EDMONTON - Hallelujah, I say. After years of loose talk on the subject, Edmonton city council has finally approved plans for an initial review of a possible bid for a World's Fair in 2017 or 2020.

Whether Edmonton ultimately pursues a bid or not -- and that's still a big "if" at this early stage -- city council's willingness to dream big should be applauded. It's another signal that Edmonton has outgrown its goofy inferiority complex, and now sees itself as a major-league city.

The green light for the preliminary study, granted by council at an in-camera session in December, follows months of informal talks about a potential bid involving some 20 local business and political leaders.

The initial review, slated to be completed by fall at a cost of roughly $500,000, will involve the formation of an advisory committee, the hiring of a project manager, and consultations with other levels of government.

If council then decides it's still committed to pursuing a bid, it's expected to commission a full-scale feasibility study, to be completed by 2010.

The federal government, which must endorse any city's bid to host a World's Fair, would then have to select which Canadian city it supports by 2011.

Montreal, which thrust itself onto the world stage during Canada's centennial year by hosting Expo 67, has already made clear its intention to pursue a World's Fair bid for 2017 -- Canada's 150th birthday.

Several other Canadian cities -- including Ottawa, Hamilton and possibly Calgary -- are also rumoured to be mulling possible bids for 2017.

The Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the Paris-based body that sanctions international expositions, must decide by 2012 which city would host any World's Fair in 2017.

Ward four councillor Jane Batty, who is overseeing Edmonton's World's Fair initiative along with veteran city councillor Karen Leibovici, says the secretive nature of the discussions to date partly reflects competitive realities.

"I understand both Toronto and Montreal are interested in a possible bid, and Calgary is also considering it. Of course, Canada will only be able to support one bid," she notes.

"So part of the talk has been, 'When do we do a feasibility study, and when do we bring in the citizen aspect of it, and when do we go public?' We don't want to show our hand too quickly."

Despite Batty's understandable caution, there appears to be plenty of enthusiasm for considering a bid among those who have attended exploratory sessions over the past few months.

"Personally, I'm more than happy to endorse this idea, one hundred per cent," says Ken Cantor of Qualico Developments, which recently unveiled plans to build a new $250-

million, 28-storey tower for city-owned Epcor Utilities.

"This (a World's Fair bid) is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It's one of the few, singular events available to a city that gives it both an opportunity and a commitment to grow up, and step onto the world stage. For those cities that do take it on, it's wonderful how they coalesce around it."

Ruth Kelly, publisher of Alberta Venture magazine and former chairwoman of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce, is another backer.

"I'm extremely pleased city council has seen the value of exploring this. An exposition in Edmonton is an ideal way to showcase our city to the world. It would be a tremendous boon to our long-term economic and cultural viability."

Even if Edmonton tries but fails to attract a World's Fair, Kelly argues that the exercise can't help but generate a lot of positive buzz for the city.

"This is a tremendous opportunity to galvanize people towards a specific goal, and a vision of what the city can be. To get people excited and focused on a common goal is a tremendous asset on its own. That's how great cities become great."

Denise Carpenter, a senior VP at Epcor, is another supporter. "Any time we can do anything to promote our city internationally and to inspire the people who live here, we should do it," she says.

"This would put Edmonton on the international stage, as other events have done over the years. I've only attended one discussion meeting so far, but I'd absolutely participate and help in any way that I could."

Although talks to date have been of an exploratory nature only, the under-utilized city centre airport site has been proposed by some as one possible venue for hosting a World's Fair.

Proponents say the airport's scale, its concrete runways, its proximity to downtown, and its convenient transit connections -- particularly in light of recent talk about a possible future LRT line to the adjacent NAIT campus -- make it an attractive choice.

Others say Edmonton's sprawling river valley would be the ideal location for a World's Fair, although critics worry that millions of potential visitors would quickly overload the valley's fragile ecosystem. Safety issues would pose another big challenge.

But these are details. For now, the good new is, Edmonton is finally starting to think like a big city. And that has to be a good thing.

Very cool. It's still a long shot but I remember being told that Edmonton would "never in a million years" be awarded the 2001 Track & Field Championships. I have full confidence in this city's ability to pull it off.

Very cool. It's still a long shot but I remember being told that Edmonton would "never in a million years" be awarded the 2001 Track & Field Championships. I have full confidence in this city's ability to pull it off.

Yeah, this one is not the full size one like Shanghai or Montreal had back in the day, but more like the BC sized one right? (to be fair back when BC hosted it the smaller sized fairs did not have a limit on sheer size)

The smaller sized fairs are good!

I hope this goes forward with full vigor, I wonder what the other Canadian bids will look like (which Canadian bid to go forward was based 100% on financial considerations in 1995)

As a bit of nostos, here is the article from when Calgary lost the 2005 bid (I still have my bid committee hoody)

CALGARY -- Canada lost its third consecutive bid for a world's fair yesterday when Japan sailed past Calgary to win Expo 2005 in what many here said was a case of money overpowering merit.

After three years of ceaseless self-promotion, including the formal corporate sponsorship by both city newspapers, Calgary had come to be seen locally as the little engine that could bump off the economic superpower of Japan. As recently as the day before the vote, the Calgary team was saying publicly it believed Canada would win.

But when the votes of the delegates to the Bureau international des exhibitions were counted yesterday morning in Monte Carlo, Japan won so resoundingly -- 52-27 -- that it was clear the race had never been close.

And that was what stunned thousands of Calgarians as they thronged Olympic Plaza at noon, about an hour after the announcement, to digest the loss, sing the national anthem and occasionally wipe away tears.

"It's pretty disappointing," said Lori Chornick, who was there with her two pre-school-aged daughters. "We expected to win. We should have."

Michael Monkman, 15, said the whole process had really been about Japan's economic power, not about Calgary's proposal.

"I personally think it's about economics and increasing trade for Japan," he said as he watched some of the bid's executives try to explain the loss to Calgarians through a television feed from Monaco.

The bid's organizers were visibly crushed by the results of the vote. Jack Perraton, a prominent local lawyer who was chairman of Calgary's quest for the world's fair, told Calgarians from Monte Carlo that it had all come down to economic and geopolitical considerations.

"I think I could say to you if this would have been awarded on merit and no other considerations, we would have won hands-down," Mr. Perraton said.

Calgary Mayor Al Duerr, who looked stricken, said he didn't think a single voting member of the bureau had any doubt that Canada had the best project.

"There is no dishonour in defeat," he told the crowd in his address from Monaco.

Standing with the crowd in pools of rainwater in Olympic Plaza, James Maxim, involved with a lobby of the Middle East and Africa on behalf of the Calgary bid, said even those working on the bid were shocked at the margin by which Japan won.

He said part of the explanation might be the rush of new member countries to the Bureau international des expositions, many of which may have been persuaded to join in order to support Japan's bid. Just a few months ago, the organization had about 50 members. Yesterday, 81 deposited ballots. (One country abstained and one spoiled its ballot, in addition to the 52 votes for Japan and 27 for Calgary.)

Toronto, too, has been humbled by this process. It lost its attempt to hold Expo 2000 by a single vote in 1990 that sent that world's fair to Hanover, Germany. Then in 1992, Toronto lost to Lisbon in its bid to hold Expo 98.

Japan's Expo bid was backed by some of its most powerful businesses. The bid chairman is Shoichiro Toyoda, one of Japan's most influential businessmen and chairman of Toyota Motor Corp.

Expo 2005 will take place near Nagoya in the Aichi prefecture, which is also home to Toyota's head office. Its theme is finding ways for humans to live harmoniously with nature.

However, in order to build the pavilions necessary to showcase this theme and accommodate the 25 million expected visitors, Japan will have to destroy 150 hectares of the environmentally sensitive Kaisho forest, which contains about 10 endangered species of plants and animals.

Japan's bid has been harshly criticized by environmentalists in that country and by influential international organizations such as the Japanese branch of the World Wildlife Fund.

The Canadian Expo 2005 team said the fair would have meant economic benefits of $1.8-billion to Canada, with the lion's share going to Alberta. But in an effort to put the loss in a positive light, organizers said yesterday that Calgary's $5.5-million around-the-world travelling spree to try to win the fair would likely still have some economic spinoffs for the city. "It's been a very successful economic development strategy for our city," Councillor Joanne Kerr told the crowd.

Glad to see this getting traction. Counting down for NIMBY/pothole connoisseur letter to the editor in 3.....2....1......

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Cities are the most extraordinary human creation. They are this phenomenon which has unbelievable capacity to solve problems, to innovate, to invent, to create prosperity, to make change and continually reform. - Ken Greenburg

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Cities are the most extraordinary human creation. They are this phenomenon which has unbelievable capacity to solve problems, to innovate, to invent, to create prosperity, to make change and continually reform. - Ken Greenburg

/\/\/\ Maybe this could help us get the resources etc to help pbring the city to the next level. Before Vancouver held their EXPO they didn't have the skytrain, False Creek was kind of a dump etc. This may hlp create the momentum we need...